Sweets Parade [Open]

"Alright, I'm supposed to bring back the things on this list!" Narue looked at the small paper in her hand while her free hand adjusted the messenger bag hanging from her shoulder which held her beloved Hato-kun.

"We can manage this, can't we Hato-kun?" She giggled.

Normally, anything human world related was left to the sixth, but Narue was simply doing a pick up and delivery job so she wasn't dealing with souls or anything. She'd been asked to pick up a number of different things, ranging from confectioneries to books. She knew her captain liked popcorn flavored jellybeans, so she'd get some of those as well.

She wore a black, over-sized, off-shoulder sweater and blue plaid shorts that stopped just before mid-thigh and black boots with small heels. She'd been careful to dress properly so she'd fit in; she couldn't just go wandering the human world looking out of place.

Cole was in the human world on a very important secret mission. Well... at least that is what he managed to convince everyone else that he was doing, so yeah, lets go with that. Cole stood alone on a roof looking down to change into his gigai when he spotted a familiar face. He felt panicked for a moment but relaxed. "This could be problematic" Cole thought.

"On the other hand... this could be fun!" He thought once more before jumping off the roof a few feet away from Narue.

Walking along, Narue went over the places she'd need to go in her head. Overall it seemed like it'd be a fun errand, sweet shops smelled nice, and bookstores were full of so many great books. Her walking slowed though as she sensed a familiar presence, looking ahead she noticed the lieutenant of the Ninth Division.

Was he on a job? What kind of business would someone from the Ninth have in the World of the Living? Despite her wondering, her smile remained.

It was obvious that Narue noticed Cole but she had said nothing to him! Was she angry with him? Was there something Cole had done to upset her? "Oh that can't be right" the always nobel and level headed Lt. of Squad 9 thought to himself.

"Oh I know, maybe she heard that I was on a secret mission. I did do an awfully good job at spreading that rumor around." Cole smugly thinks to himself.

*3 Hours Ago In Squad 9*

Cole swings open the door to his office knocking down a clerk. When the confused individual looks up, he sees Cole over him.

"Look here, I'm going on a secret mission." Cole states before running off and leaving the guy to stare in bewilderment.

*Present Time*

"Yeah... that's got to be it" Cole says nodding to himself knowingly. He then promptly walks over to Narue and asks, "Are you here to assist me on my mission today?"

"Assist you?" Narue questioned, tilting her head slightly at Cole's question once they were in talking distance. "I was actually running my own errands. I have to pick up some things for some officers in my division."

So he was on a mission of some sort, had the Sixth requested assistance with souls?

"If you need help though, I might be able to help if you need it?" She offered, her smile returning.

"Of course, Of course. Help is always a wonderful thing to have." Cole says but in reality what he was actually thinking was: SHIT SHIT SHIT WHY DID I HAVE TO SAY THAT?! The only sign was a near impossible to see glimmer in his eyes that let on that fact.

"Still though, lets finish your business first. It may help out mine in the end." Cole says with a warm smile. Good Job Cole, Excellent Recovery.

"'Kay, sounds good!" She'd taken notice of the tiny glimmer in his eye that showed slight panic (?) of sorts...but she paid it no mind, whatever he was doing, whether it was a mission or no it wasn't her business.

She took out the list again to look it over, "I don't know if it'll help with your business, but I have to head to some stores and pick up some stuff...stuff like books, cakes, and other sweets. I guess the best place to go first would be the bookstore for the books...that way that'll be out of the way and the cakes won't have a bigger chance of getting messed up."

"That sounds great, I needed to go to the bookstore too for... research purposes." Cole said on the fly not even blinking. One of his better traits was thinking on the fly or so he's been told. They make their way to the bookstore passing a few street vendors. He asks one of them for a hotdog but the man doesn't seem to hear him.

"Hey man, what the..." Cole trails off and remembers why. "Hey do you mind if we duck into this boutique over here, I still need to change into a gigai."

She'd almost forgotten he'd not been wearing a gigai, so it was lucky there weren't too many people around, or else she'd probably catch a few eyes talking to what looked like nothing. "Yeah, let's do that."

She walked with Cole into the nearest boutique, "I'll look around while you get your gigai on."

The shop itself was modestly crowded with people. Cole slipped into a dressing room and when he came out he looked like he had just came from a heavy metal concert. The woman at the counter looked at him with a confused look.

"When did you..." He cut her off with a hand wave, a smile and says, "Don't even start" Cole then gives a slight bow to Narue.

Narue chose to look look at a few hats and hair accessories to pass the short time it took Cole to put on his gigai, she turned as he addressed her and mentioned they could go.

"Okay." She gave a small nod before walking out of the store with him.

Now outside once more, Narue glanced around. "There should be a bookstore near here...just up the road...there! There it is." She said once the store had caught her eye. Taking a hold of the strap of the messenger bag she had she began walking.

The streets weren't as crowded as normal, probably because it was still school hours for some humans or most of them were already shopping in places. That was good though, it would be easier to get things done with less people.

It was nice to be in the human world though, as different as it was from the Soul Society, there were nice clothes, lots of different foods, and fun activities to take part in. She was happy to be here running errands if it meant she could spend time here.

Cole didn't think much of the place. He heard it was a popular area for shinigami and it proved to be correct although he didn't personally understand why. His eyes passed from store front to store front as if in a trance until something finally catches his eye. It was a music store that seemed to be having a sidewalk sale of old cassets. He began to thumb through them quickly and picked up something by the Rolling Stones.

A young looking vendor walks up to him who smelled of lavender and weed. "So you a fan of the classics?"

Cole looked at him with a queer look. "Classics? This is barely..." He began to trail off and remembered his age. "Yes, I suppose I am"

"That's cool man. I like the oldies as well." He says totally oblivious of what Cole might have been implying. Cole then walks away feeling strangely uncomfortable.

As she approached the bookstore, she turned to see Cole had stopped to look at something, someone selling cassettes containing what appeared to be music from another country, she knew those cassettes were used years in the past but most used disks or listened digitally now but cassettes and the like were still drifting around for faithful listeners.

Patiently, she waited on him to finish his business as she wasn't in any hurry.

She had an sparkle in her eye though, as she thought about what she might find in the bookstore pertaining to her own interests, there was also the opportunity to get extra sweets at the sweets stores. "I wonder what I should get...Ne, Hato-kun maybe I should get an extra strawberry shortcake or something." She mused with a small giggle, lifting up her bag to look at her beloved bird plush.

Just as she finished speaking, Cole appeared, having finished his music shopping.

When they finally made it to the bookstore Cole began to rummage around the cheap books that were left outside. Most of them were low quality schlock but he found some pretty interesting sounds stories. A woman walks by and with a queer smile she says, "Ah, so I see you are a fan of western literature? We are having a sale on Shakespeare's complete works"

Cole looks at this rather awkward looking woman and shakes his head. "No... not really. I'm just looking around."

He then returns to Narue. "I'm not really a fan of sales people... so what sort of books are you interested in?"

Once in the bookstore, Narue immediately went to what she'd been requested to get first -- that being a recipe book for a fellow shinigami in her division who enjoyed cooking. When she had that, Narue had found herself engrossed in books pertaining to her own hobbies, she held one pertaining to plush making in the arm she was holding the recipe book in while she flipped through the pages of one pertaining to occult folklore of Japan.

She almost hadn't notice Cole approach her after his own exploring of the place.

"Hm?" Tearing her eyes from the book open in her hands, she glanced over at him. "Ah, well I like books that are about my other hobbies, like guides to help with plush making since I make plush dolls myself...Oh yeah, and I'm really interested in stuff like this!" She added, waving the folklore book in her hands slightly with a smile.

IC: Cole takes a look at the book and with a mild smile he hands it back. "I never much considered these things while I was alive. I was too busy trying to get rich."

He laughs mildly at that but his look made him look lost in thought. "Hell, even once I arrived in the Soul Society I hardly had time to think about much. It always felt like I was doing something. I guess that's why I slack off as much as I do. It was never about me, ya know?"

It then dawned on Cole how nuts he would sound if someone heard him. He looked around quickly but everyone was too absorbed in their own lives. He sighed and turned beet red.

[OOC: The forum itself is hecking up for me like nothing's loading right and shit]

Narue gave a small giggle, "I just like these kinds of things, it's fun to share some of the things I find in here with other people in my division. Sometimes it even helps all of us become better friends too."

She was quiet for a moment, thinking, before she replied in a quieter tone in case other people were around. "Hmm, I don't really remember anything about my own life before Soul Society, I guess I died really young then? Who knows." She ended with a small shrug.

She wasn't particularly bothered about it though, her life in the Soul Society was enough.

"Ah that sounds too bad. Granted life isn't too different no matter where you go. Unless you wind up as a hollow I suppose." Cole says with a shrug and a friendly laugh. He then eyes a comic section and makes a B-line to it.

"Huh, didn't know a place like this would sell American comics" He says picking up a copy of the Avengers and flips through it.

As she continued flipping through her book she noticed Cole become distracted by another section, glancing over she noticed it was the one where comics were located. He seemed rather interested in foreign works, though, everyone has their interests, that thought passing her mind as she smiled down at her own selection.

She had the books she'd needed to pick up along with two for herself, so while Cole continued exploring the store she looked around as well. Bookstores were nice, nice and peaceful.

After a few minutes passed in silence Cole placed down his comic and began to search for Narue. A few of the locals had gathered for what seemed like a poetry reading up towards the side so Cole went in that direction.

When she'd looked at everything there was she found interesting to look at and purchased the books she had, she went to look for Cole who was lingering around near an ongoing poetry reading. Once at his side she spoke in a quieter voice so as not to disturb anyone listening to the poetry, "I've bought everything I need from here, so if you're done we can go ahead and go to the next place when you're ready to."

The next place would be a sweets store, there she could get the small cakes and popcorn jellybeans she needed to get, plus perhaps a cake-pop for herself.

"The Human World?" Narue asked. "Hmm, well I find it really fun. There's also sorts of things here that we don't have back at home and while home is nice too I like the different experiences you can have here as well."